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An Ohio company that hauls fracking waste from Utica shale wells ceased operations yesterday
after state officials accused it of illegal dumping.

Employees for Harch Environmental Resources dumped fracking waste and oil-based mud down a hill
to a private pond in Belmont County on May 16, according to a news release from the Ohio Department
of Natural Resources.

Harch, which has offices in St. Clairsville and Shadyside, Ohio, voluntarily stopped hauling the
waste fluids while it awaits a hearing with agency regulators. The company wants to keep its permit
to haul fracking waste. Harch officials did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Acting on a tip, inspectors found waste on the ground near a St. Clairsville farm. Inspectors
determined Harch trucks had backed up to the crest of a hill and released waste from a Gulfport
Energy drilling site into a private pond.

The waste fluids, which officials call brine, are the byproduct of fracking, in which water,
sand and chemicals are pumped underground to shatter shale and free trapped oil and gas. An
oil-based mud is used during drilling as a lubricant and to send loose bits of dirt and rock to the
surface.

Mark Bruce, an Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokesman, said the agency also is
investigating possible penalties for Oklahoma City-based Gulfport. He said state law requires that
a drilling company monitor what happens to its fracking waste. Gulfport officials did not return
requests for comment.